DESCRIPTION:
During World War II, German research into delta-winged aircraft had shown that such configurations produced
less drag at high speeds. After capturing this data, the US Air Force contracted Convair to develop a
delta-wing research aircraft called the XF-92. Experience with this aircraft allowed Convair to win an Air
Force contract to develop a delta-wing interceptor to defend the United States against Soviet bombers. The
resulting F-102 was seen as a temporary project eventually to be succeeded by an "ultimate interceptor,"
which became the F-106.

Unfortunately, the first YF-102 prototype was a dismal failure whose performance did not come close to
meeting design requirements. Convair engineers then made use of the
area rule concept to reduce the wave drag that occurs in
transonic and supersonic flight. In combination with a more powerful engine, this change allowed the
production F-102 to easily reach supersonic speeds. The initial prototype so modified reached Mach 1.22
during its first flight.

A total of 1,000 F-102A interceptors and two-seat trainers were built for the US Air Force, and these
were stationed throughout air defense bases in the US, Europe, the Pacific, and Alaska. Most of those
located at Pacific bases in the Philippines and Okinawa were also regularly rotated to forward bases in
Thailand and South Vietnam where they provided the fastest reaction time of any air defense fighter used
during the Vietnam War. Still more were stationed in South Korea to defend against frequent incursions by
Soviet and North Korean aircraft.

Much of the USAF F-102 fleet was also transferred to Air National Guard units that became increasingly
responsible for defending the continental US from nuclear bombers during the 1960s and 1970s. The last of
these aircraft were not withdrawn from service until 1976. Many were disposed of as target drones while
some were sold to Greece and Turkey where the F-102 fought for both sides during the 1974 invasion of
Cyprus.

up to two GAR-11/AIM-26 Falcon or up to six GAR-1/2/3/4/AIM-4 Falcon GAR-1 and GAR-3 Falcon were radar-guided, GAR-2 and GAR-4 were infrared guided, all were redesignated as
variants of the AIM-4
the F-102 usually carried three of each, two IR and one radar forward and two radar and one IR aft
GAR-11 was radar-guided with a nuclear warhead and redesignated as the AIM-26

Air-to-Surface Missile

none

Bomb

none

Other

up to 24 2.75-in Mighty Mouse FFAR rockets, rocket pods

KNOWN VARIANTS:

YF-102A (8-80)

First prototype that was found to be far too underpowered to meet the supersonic maximum speed requirement,
first example crashed; 2 built

YF-102A (8-90)

Second prototype after a major redesign including an area-ruled fuselage and fitting of a new engine